Pacific Profiles - Cook Island Maori

• In 2001, 18 percent of Cook Island Maori people (with a language) were able to hold an everyday conversation in Cook Island Maori – the same proportion as in 1996.
• A higher proportion of the overseas-born Cook Island Maori population was able to speak Cook Island Maori (48 percent of those with a language) than the New Zealand-born Cook Island Maori population (5 percent of those with a language). This pattern held across all age groups, as shown in figure 2.1.
• The proportion of the New Zealand-born Cook Island Maori population able to speak Cook Island Maori in 2001 was unchanged from 1996 (5 percent of those with a language).
• Among the New Zealand-born population, those aged 65 years and over were most likely to be able to speak Cook Island Maori (9 percent) – as figure 2.1 illustrates.

English

• English was the most widely spoken language among the Cook Island Maori population. In 2001, 2 percent of Cook Island Maori (of those with a language) were unable to speak English – down one percentage point from 1996.
• In 2001, the majority (83 percent) of Cook Island Maori people unable to speak English were born overseas. Of those born overseas and unable to speak English, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) had been in New Zealand for more than 10 years.
• Eighty-one percent of Cook Island Maori who could not speak English were over 20 years of age in 2001.